Late last week the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project had a media event in Cambridge, and while I couldn't make the event, I did tape a video interview for the BBC on the project. During my preparation I kept coming across these claims that Microsoft and OLPC had partnered to put Windows XP Starter Edition on the OLPC, and according to one report, this was being done to get the XO laptop into US schools. None of this jibed with what I had been hearing from sources, so I decided to look into it further. As it turns out, a number of new outlets, including the AP, mischaracterized the situation.
According to Walter Bender, president of Software and Content at OLPC, there is no agreement in place between OLPC and Microsoft to offer XO laptops with any version of Windows. Bender also indicated that Microsoft has not contacted OLPC regarding its $3 software bundling program, nor have any governments requested that the XO be outfitted with Windows. In short, there is no existing collaboration between Microsoft and OLPC aimed at outfitting the XO laptop with Windows.
The XO in Nigerian colors
"We are a free and open-source shop. We have no one from OLPC working with Microsoft on developing a Windows platform for the XO. MS doesn't get any special treatment from OLPC," Bender told Ars.
How did the mix-up come about? Perhaps it is because Microsoft is one of over 1,500 developers accepted to OLPC's developer program, and the company does have access to XO prototypes. Microsoft has said that the company will develop for the XO laptop, but when asked if OLPC was aware of any tests of either XP Starter Edition or Vista Starter Edition on the XO, Bender said that he was not.
Reaction to the news that Microsoft might hop on board the XO was met with both cheers and derision. Open-source advocates worried that this constituted a loss for the project and open-source ideals, but those fears appear to be unfounded now that the relationship between OLPC and Microsoft is clearer.
Correction: Reuters was named as a news outlet which reported the alleged Microsoft-OLPC hookup. Reuters did not in fact do so.
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